Dear Senator
by RyanKathrynCelia
Summary: Richard Castle is dead. Kate Beckett and her team scattered in the wind. So why is Alexis giving a press conference that will shake New York to its core? More so why is Captain Gates standing at her side? What does the youngest Castle have planned?
1. Chapter 1

"Dear Senator"

Richard Castle is dead. Kate Beckett and her team scattered in the wind. So why is Alexis giving a press conference that will shake New York to its core? More so why was Captain Gates standing at her side?

* * *

Alexis looked at herself in the mirror that had been provided for her. She couldn't recognise the woman that she had become at just nineteen years. It had been a year since her life had changed completely, since Captain Gates had turned up at the Loft, sat her down and gave her the news she had feared for the past three years that her father had worked at the NYPD.

Gates had sat her down on the sofa and perched on the edge of the seat herself. She distinctly remembered that Grams hadn't been around, on a tour of Europe. As soon as the police Captain had turned up Alexis had guessed the news that was about to given, she remembered her chest constricting, the tears flowing before Gates had even said a word. She remembered yelling at the woman, telling her she was lying, that it couldn't have been true as her father had contacted her only a few hours before. She remembered her father saying the he would see her later, that he would be home for dinner.

What was worse about the whole affair was that there was no body, nothing that she couldn't say goodbye too, nothing to bury in the ground, no final closure on the matter. She didn't realise at the time the complete and utter significance of this alone.

Gates had run the investigation into her father's murder for a few months with no new leads. What had surprised Alexis more considering the history between the Captain and the writer that the Captain herself had run the investigation into the murder. It had seemed at the same time her father's closet ally in the NYPD as simply disappeared, run away with no clues – Alexis was more than happy to blame the woman for what had happened, but it hurt more that even Esposito and Ryan had also disappeared into the wind with no contact, not even an "I'm sorry" before completing their vanishing act.

Alexis had been a very angry young lady, but that anger had fuelled her own investigation, had fuelled her desire to be something more than the little Castle of the family. And it was what had led her to the situation today. She had chosen this day for a good reason – it was exactly a year after her father's apparent murder, a year to the day.

"Alexis," came the voice of a much softer Gates than she was used to, "Are you sure that you want to go through with this?"

"Captain Gates – I really can't thank you enough for your help over the last year, but today... today it all comes together. I have known the truth for some time now but today it is the day it has to be revealed, but before we go out there and face the cameras there is something that you must know. You can arrest me if you wish, but after the press conference," Alexis responded to the woman, knowing that Gates would most likely arrest her for withholding information in an ongoing police investigation, but she also knew that she had her father's fortune and would probably manage to get away with it, "Now - here is what you need to know-"

* * *

Twitter on the day of the press conference was alive with the sound of Richard Castle's fans re-tweeting a single set of numbers with one instruction "Do not break the chain, no matter what happens today: 08672241. For my father, Richard Castle. Alexis xx"

* * *

"Alexis – please, reconsider," Captain Gates begged her one last time. The cameras were already starting to flash at her from the steps of the 12th Precinct of the NYPD, "You know the consequences of this. I can't have more Castle blood on my hands!" Gates was desperate – the girl had refused to wear a vest.

"I'm sorry Captain, I really have to do this. You know what's at stake. I can sort _everything_ out. Let's do this." She took a deep breath, held it for a few moments as she gathered her confidence. It was time to put the demons to rest. She stepped out into the flashes and lenses of the cameras.

"Hello, my name is Alexis Castle, daughter of the author Richard Castle. Firstly I want to thank you for coming here today. As you know exactly a year ago today my father was brutally murdered in the city that he called home, in a city that he strived through his work with the NYPD to make better, to help families have closure, and to write his novels. He worked with one of the best teams that this precinct has ever seen. They are all probably considered dead at this point in time as well.

Behind me I have bought something of my father's that I want to share with you," Alexis pointed to a big SMART board that she had mounted to the side of the precinct. She'd had a contact of her father hook up the information that would be displayed to the interactive media boards across the city, "I'll switch it on in a moment. Before I do, I want to tell you a story – being the daughter of a prolific author, I think that this is agreeable, don't you?" She had practiced this speech many times. She had been coached in how to deal with the cameras and with Gates standing next to her she was drawing in a steady strength. She'd planned this press conference for when her Grams was out of the state with her theatre group – at least that way she knew that the older woman would be safe. Safer than herself at the present time at any rate.

"Four years ago my father was incriminated in a crime, and the result of this was the NYPD using him as a consultant in future cases. My father loved doing this, working with the inspiration of the _Nikki Heat_ series. In working with Detective Beckett he discovered the unsolved murder of the Detective's mother, Johanna Beckett. My dad pushed Beckett to investigate – and there were leads over the next three years, and thus lead a complex and detailed case of why Johanna Beckett was killed, alongside others at the same time. My dad gave these victims voices, helped Beckett get her closure for the murder of her mother, and my dad paid the price for this investigation. Or so I thought.

Ladies and gentlemen, today I stand before you, in the crosshairs of a sniper like my father did before me. It's only a matter of time before the shot is taken. But the information I have for you today will change the picture forever. Captain Gates has been kind enough to entertain me with my theories for the last year, and we have today completed the investigation that will change the face of New York City, and my life, forever." Alexis fired up the SMART board, and displayed on the board was the same information that her father had on there. The murder board on Kate Beckett's mother. There was more details on it these days, and she knew that she was dragging Montgomery's name through the mud, but it was the sacrifice she had to make to get her information out to the general public.

"The person behind these murders has been linked to a single bank account, now defunct. This information has protected people, including myself, from death. But there comes a point when a secret can no longer be kept, that it simply has to be told, and that the world can move on.

Some of you on Twitter may have noticed a re-tweet from my father's account. This number is the bank account involved. It is the account that all of this stems back to, the one person who can be accountable for all the deaths on the board behind me.

Now it is my turn for revenge, Senator Bracken, and I hope that the police get to you before my dad does."


	2. Chapter 2

"Now it is my turn for revenge, Senator Bracken, and I hope that the police get to you before my dad does."

* * *

_13 Months Previously_

"C'mon Castle, don't you think that Alexis can look after herself?" Beckett asked her partner as they walked briskly along the walkway to the crime scene.

"Well, of course she can look after herself, I just don't want her to leave the roost, you know – what if she never comes back? What if she enjoys college so much that she doesn't ever want to come home?" Castle replied to the person he considered his best friend, he frequently found himself confiding in the woman about the whims of his daughter and his mother.

"Castle, she'll always come home. She won't ever forget about home, but she also has to fly, she needs to experience life outside of living with her dad and being protected from the world by her dad. She needs to see what lies ahead for her, and to develop her own future for herself." Beckett replied to the person who had become her perpetual shadow.

Lifting up the crime scene tape the pair walked towards their colleagues taking in the subtle details of the horrors that lie in front of them, the last moments of a victim's life. It was a process that everyone who worked a crime scene developed separately, and uniquely, from looking at the mangled and bloodied corpse, the blood spattered across the trash bins lining the alleyway of the scene, to the smaller details, a shell casing from a bullet to the left, a wallet strewn across the way with a dollar bill carelessly blowing in the wind, a target of red and white spray painted to the wall, the centre covered in graffiti. There was a glint of silver shining next to one of the trash cans, a black sack sitting innocently amid the chaos and confusion that a murder scene bought. There was the subtle look at the crowd taking in quick glances of anyone that may have stood out, possibly the murderer returning the scene to watch the fruits of his labour.

Then there was the chaos of the people working the scene itself. The CSI's in their protective clothing picking up the evidence and carefully putting it in bags, labelling it, and moving on the next item they came across. There was the coroner, bending over the corpse making initial observations on what unfortunate event caused the fateful end of a human beings life, her assistant making quick notes in a spiral bound notebook. There were uniforms swarming the place, ensuring that the public didn't step over the crime scene tape, keeping an eye on the witnesses making sure that none of them did a runner. One of the first rules of witnesses was first witness = first suspect. Usually the presence of so many police officers ensured that witnesses were intimidated just enough to not consider making a run for it.

Castle and Beckett made their way across to where Esposito and Ryan were standing comparing initial details with each other and waiting to brief Beckett on the situation so far. Beckett's initial feeling on this body was that this wasn't going to be a typical case; something that she was sure Castle would love, but was sure would only give her a headache. She could already imagine Gates on her case throughout demanding quick, clean results.

Before Castle even had time to say anything about the layout of the scene, Beckett warned him "No CIA theories," as she wasn't in the mood to put up with his outlandish ideas at the moment. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that there was something very wrong with the whole scene.

"Who's the vic?" She asked the other two members of her team, prompting them to begin their debriefing.

"His name is Walter Smith according to the employee ID round his neck," Ryan began looking over the notes that he had made so far, "Before his premature end in this here alley, he was a high flying lawyer, on his way up in the world. We are looking into the law firm to see what cases he was working, seeing if there are any red flags there. He had a wife and a child but no wedding band on the hand which is odd," Ryan said, thumbing his own wedding band wondering why someone would take off the symbol of eternal and ultimate love, "Witness found the body an hour ago whilst out for a run, she's over there," he gestured in the direction of the witness.

"Anything else to add?" Beckett asked taking in the prelim details.

"Nothing as of yet Beckett, but we're starting to run down the leads," Esposito added having remained silent, and eyeing up his favourite coroner thinking that nobody was paying attention to him as he did so.

"Okay, run those leads, let me know what you find out," Beckett dismissed them and turned to see the coroner, Laney, who also was a friend outside of work, the person she told all her secrets to.

"Laney, what have you got so far?" Beckett asked her friend.

"I would not like to leave this mortal coil like this man did," She responded in her usual way, "Gunshot wound to the back of the head looks to be COD," she said pointing the relevant spot on the dead man's head, "However, look here," she picked up one of his wrists and pulled up the sleeve revealing deep ligature marks, "Looks like his arms were bound tightly, the pattern looks to be rope, or some other braided item. There are varying degrees of bruising over his arms and legs, probably across his torso too. It looks like he took quite the beating before he was put out of his misery. I'll know more when I get him on the slab." Standing up, she instructed her assistant that the body could be loaded into the coroners van.

* * *

Beckett and Castle returned to 12th Precinct a little after Ryan and Esposito, who had already taken the time to begin setting up the murder board. There was very little detail on there so far – information about the victim, his name, his next of kin, and a few pictures of the alley where he was found. As the investigation progressed there would be much more to add before they could determine the entirety of events that led to the unfortunate death of the victim.

"Coffee?" Castle asked, offering her a cup of freshly made liquid gold.

"Thanks," She said taking it from him without actually looking at him, keeping her eyes on the whiteboard. This case didn't sit right with her already and she had learned to trust her gut instinct.

"So what do we know?" Beckett asked as she stood to take a closer look at the pictures that were on the board. She was waiting for the arrival of the rest of the crimes scene photos from the CSI's so that they could examine them, see what they missed at the scene of crime itself, see what clues they may have glanced over.

"Well Ryan said he was a lawyer, perhaps he had a dissatisfied client," Castle could tell she wasn't in the mood for some outlandish theories, "Or perhaps it's something much simpler like a mugging gone wrong," he added.

"I was thinking mugging gone wrong, but there's just something about this that doesn't scream that it's that. The ligature marks on his wrists for a start suggests premeditation," Beckett replied.

"He could have been into the really naughty stuff," Castle suggested, thinking back to the case of the girl covered in caramel, as he tended too when thinking about sex subcultures, "You know tough talking lawyer get tired of being the boss, so when it's quitting time, he lets someone else be the boss for a bit."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not." Beckett responded. It was times like these that she hated. It was the start of a case where the information was limited, that the data bases were being searched, Laney was performing her autopsy seeing what information the body would give, and clues that could lead to the killer. Inactivity was not Beckett's strong point.

"Hey," Ryan said walking across the pen, Esposito following behind him, "So we spoke to the law firm that Walter Smith was working for. They didn't have much to say about him aside from the fact that he delivered good results for the firm, that he was going places – he had the potential to be a senior partner at the firm with a little more hard work. They said that he wasn't working on anything official for the company."

"Anything official? What does that mean?" Castle asked.

"Well, they said that when he was on downtime he was always in the city archives looking into all sorts of things. They said they thought it was just a weird hobby of his, and that they didn't question it because of the results he did deliver when he was representing the firm. We're looking into the NYC archives as a potential lead – maybe he uncovered something there that was supposed to have remained buried."

"Any news on his wife?" Beckett asked.

"She's on her way in to ID the body," Esposito replied.

* * *

Watching someone ID a dead body could indicate to the police whether a person could have committed the crime or not. Sometimes, the utter devastation of losing a loved one would leave the person left behind a numb, shell of a person, much like Beckett herself had been all those years ago, or they would make a scene, cry, shout, throw things around if they could. There were those that showed no emotion, no shock, no surprise, or no grief at the dead person in front of them. They just stood there, nodded their head, and left without so much as a backwards glance at the person that must have meant something to them at some point in their life.

Stacey Smith was the sort of person who couldn't keep her composure together. As soon as the white sheet was pulled back to reveal the face of her husband the tears flowed freely from her face. Laney had seen all the reactions that people had to give, she saw them on what could only be the worst days of their lives, she knew that no matter what comfort she could give these people, it would be a useless comfort, which was why she would always take the step back and allow the deceased relatives or friends deal with their emotions. She rarely felt it necessary to go into the details of how the victim died, that would be for the police to do later, but each and every time she stood there awaiting a positive ID her heart went out to them, wishing she could show more than just a dead body sitting on her slab waiting to be cut into.

"Mrs Smith?" Detective Beckett introduced herself to the weeping woman, knowing the pain that she was feeling having been there herself, "Could you please come with us? We need to ask you a few questions about your husband."

The woman followed Beckett numbly out of the morgue and into the break room in an attempt to make her as comfortable as possible. Beckett considered the possibility that this woman was a suspect in the case as she always did when it came to the possibility of a cheating husband, however, her gut feeling told her otherwise at this point in the case. There was nothing to back up the idea that this woman could have killed and dumped the body, and it was too early in the investigation to suggest otherwise.

"Mrs Smith, I know this is painful and that it hurts like hell, but we need to go over a few details," Beckett started as Castle entered the room and closed the door behind him. She wouldn't admit to anyone but she had grown used to having Castle in the room with her. He had a different insight into people that most cops did, he thought outside the box, and that had helped them numerous times in the past.

"Who did this to Walt?" Stacey asked once she was able to control her breathing and get herself under a degree of control.

"That's what we are here to find out Mrs Smith. Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt your husband?"

"No. I mean, Walt helped put a few people behind bars, but that was a while ago. He would get threats then, but he hasn't mentioned anything recently." She wiped her eyes with a tissue from the box provided for her.

"Have you noticed anyone suspicious recently? How about around your street following you about – anything that springs to mind?"

"No, nothing. Walt didn't say anything about anything like that. They have a process at his firm about things like that. If they think they are in danger, or getting threats or anything like that they have to report it and their security looks into it. It was supposed to keep them safe." She sobbed again.

"Okay, so what about his work. Do you think that this is related to something that he was working on?"

"He didn't have a case at the moment. He was looking into something that happened in his past. He has always been driven by the murder of his parents. He was bought up by his Aunt. He thought there was something in an old case that would shed some light onto what happened, but he wouldn't talk to me about it. He was convinced that there was some sort of conspiracy and wouldn't talk to me about it."

Castle took the opportunity to change track, making mental notes on what she had said so far, "Are you sure that your husband wasn't having an affair? When he was found he wasn't wearing his wedding band."

"No! He wasn't having an affair! We love – loved – each other very much, there's no way he would cheat on me! He... I don't know what happened to his ring. I don't remember him taking off the ring. I'll see if I can find it at home..." She trailed off thinking about the whole scenario. At least it was something that could occupy her time for a small while.

"Thank you for your time Mrs Smith, we'll be contact with you when we get any new information," Beckett stood up and shook the woman's hand, leading her out of the break room and into the hands of one of the uniforms to lead her out of the building.

"Beckett!" Ryan shouted across the bull pen, "You're gonna want to see this!" He exclaimed.

* * *

[A/N: This seems to have received a fairly warm welcome, so I hope that I can keep up the excitement. I didn't intend on turning this into a case fic, but that seems to have happened. So the key question is... how is it all linked? I hope to see you all in the next chapter. Apologies for any mistakes, whether it's spelling, grammar or fandom related! I do take the time to proof read, but sometimes things slip through the next. RKC]


	3. Chapter 3

"Beckett!" Ryan shouted across the bull pen, "You're gonna want to see this!" He exclaimed.

It turned out that Ryan had managed to get a hold of the CCTV footage of the road and pavement of where the murder had taken place. There wasn't a direct view of the murder, and as such, the murderer in the act, but it did provide a few short seconds of a grainy looking victim staggering down the road apparently running away from a figure being him, then turning into the alleyway and a moment later being followed by a shadowy looking figure. Only one of the two men [Beckett seriously doubted that the suspect was a woman] emerged, and it wasn't the ill fated victim. The suspect simply walked away as though nothing had occurred, leaving a man to die on his own among the garbage in the alley.

Beckett had ordered the CCTV to forensics as soon as she had watched several times, burning the image of the victims last few moments in her mind. With any luck forensics would be able to enhance the image and be able to get some greater detail and help them identify the fiend that had extinguished another man's life. She would get justice for Walter Smith's murder, because there was no one else that could.

After she sent the CCTV to the crime lab she updated the murder board with what little information she could at this stage of the investigation. She allocated part of the murder board for the CCTV evidence, hoping that it would be processed quickly, but knowing that it was more likely to be some time before she saw any results from it.

As she pondered the relatively empty board in front of her Esposito walked into the precinct carrying a large and heavy looking cardboard documents box. As she saw him he inclined his head, indicating that she should follow him into the layout room. With any luck there would be a lead in that box that would help bring Walter Smith's murderer to justice. There was still that feeling in her stomach that this case wasn't going to be as clear cut as she wanted.

It had seemed that it was Castle's forte to make quick and steady progress when it came to large documents and evidence. He would always attribute it to the need to read through manuscripts that other authors sent him quickly as the obligated reading of other authors somewhat inferior work could otherwise be a prolonged and painful experience. Esposito and Ryan had already looked at some of the files, spreading them around the table waiting for another to pick up and quickly take in the information.

The first thing Kate noticed about the files was that they had all once been police files sent on to lawyers and, eventually storage. The second thing she noticed after looking at several of them was that they all contained unsolved crimes, ranging from random street muggings through to unsolved murders, and a couple of unexplained deaths that couldn't be exclusively named as murder. It would be logical to assume that Walter Smith was looking for something specific in these files and it was possible that he was murdered for it.

As she was looking through another file Kate caught a shifty look passing between her Detectives and her partner, small, attempted to be concealed, and a look that didn't bring her joy. That was a look of secrets, and the four of them had enough of those without adding more.

"What is it?" She demanded, looking at each of them in turn, fixing them with her famous no nonsense glare. They apparently were reluctant to answer, and had obviously discussed this moment prior to this situation developing.

"Sit down Kate," Castle suggested in, yet in an equally no nonsense manner. She didn't like the feel of this already. As she sat in one of the free chairs, Ryan closed the door to the layout room and closed the blinds. This could only mean bad news. Kate racked her brain to think of just how bad the news could be, with these three in front of her, three of her most trusted friends and colleagues.

"What is it?" She repeated, hoping that they didn't notice that some of her fire had left her. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to have multiplied, and the feeling of dread spread through her like wildfire. _Sit down Kate_ what did he have to say that he said it in that manner?

There seemed to be a unanimous, unspoken, vote that Castle was going to be the one to break the news. Maybe it was because he was just used to doing it with her over the last four years – so why did it always seem to hurt that much more when he broke bad news to her? She was mentally shouting for Espo or Ryan to break the news, pleading with her brain to make it someone other than Castle, but there was no divine answer to her pleas, and Castle began speaking to her in his deep, calming, yet ultimately heart shattering voice.

"Kate – you see what these cases are right? You see that they are all unresolved?" Castle began, hoping that she would see where this was going without having to spell it out for her, but knowing that he would have to say every word for it to sink into her addled brain, "Did you notice the dates on the cases when you looked through some of them?" Kate shook her head in answer, wondering how she could have missed one of the most prominent features of a police report, "These cases all date around the same time, from the same decade. Walter Smith was investigating similar cases to the death of his aunt; the person who raised him from a child." Castle paused, hoping that Kate was following where this was going.

"Walter Smith was looking into your mother's murder." He said, rather bluntly, after a moment of long silence, during which time Kate was willing the thoughts away, that someone else was looking into her mother's murder, that they might have uncovered the secrets that the four of them harboured from the world about a person that had been a father figure to her, that had died to keep her safe. There was a sudden shooting pain surging through her heart at the loss of Montgomery, physical pain rushing through the bullet scar in the middle of her chest. One moment she was sitting in the chair, the next, she was sitting on the floor unable to process the information that her friends were telling, falling into panic, a free fall that she felt would never end.

Her life would be in danger again, and there was nothing she could do to control it.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N:: I am aware progress is painfully slow with this real life exists and tends to get in the way. I hope this is okay, I was intended it to be longer, but I think you'll agree that it certainly sets the scene for what is to come. The question is: How will it all end? RKC.

* * *

"Walter Smith was investigating your mothers' murder."

Castles' smooth voice kept repeating the words around her head like a song that wouldn't get out. The similarities of Walter Smiths' case were glaringly obvious to that of her mothers' but she didn't want to acknowledge that fact, that somebody was still out there carrying murders to hide what happened so many years ago. She thought that she held the cards. More than that, it meant Montgomery's death meant nothing and that it was all going to happen again, she was going to be hunted again.

Kate didn't remember being sat on the break room couch, nor how it got so dark. She could hear the furious whispered voices of her colleagues probably arguing over what was the best way forwards. They didn't seem to be paying her any attention, and as her mind returned to her, she felt the beginning of a plan in her head. The potential to solve all of her problems, something that would need a lot of planning, and a lot more secrecy than anything she had ever done in her life.

She put her hands in her head, scraping her fingers up through her scalp. She would need Castle's help, there would be no doubt. He would be the one with the imagination to pull off a stunt on the scale she was thinking of. Could she ask him too, though? She would have to think on a niggle of thought. Right now she had to right herself, focus on Walter Smith. To return to the present. There was every chance that she wouldn't be involved, that someone might not come after her this time, that they would realise that it wasn't her touching her mothers' case.

She didn't think she would be that lucky. She hadn't been at any other point regarding the murder of her mother.

* * *

"Kate? Are you okay?" Castle asked as he took the seat beside her.

"Yeah Rick I am. Thanks for asking," Kate replied, knowing that she didn't look and hadn't acted as though she was actually okay, "What we need to do is keep the connection to my mothers' case quite so that Gates doesn't find out. As soon as she does this case will be taken from us. We can't afford to let that happen. You know what is at stake here. We can't sully Montgomery's name. And it wouldn't just be his name that we would label as dirty." She said it all in a tone that required no arguments, "We wait for the CCTV to return from the lab to see if there are any new leads. We know who's behind these attacks so let's see if we can at least find some other connection to Walter and the person who killed him..." She sighed, knowing as she said it that there would be no other connection that the murder of his parents.

The idea flickered around her brain again. "Ryan, Espo, go home. Get some rest. We'll tackle this with fresh eyes in the morning. We'll find something to fob off Gates with in the mean time. Castle, a word before you go please?" She asked him to stay, but the way it sounded ensured that it was a question, more of an order.

"Sure, what can I do?" He asked as they said their goodbyes to the two Detectives, who left with some curious looks.

"Castle... I have an idea that I need your help with." Kate started, "You know what happened before. The assassin didn't stop until he had me on the edge of everything, life, sanity. I can't, no, I won't, let it happen again. How would it sound to you if we, as a team, drew him out? What if we set up a sting operation, just the four of us, and take him down once and for all? We get Bracken, the assassin, everything in one swoop."

"Kate, that's a nice idea but we can't – like you said we all know what's at stake here," Castle responded looking around the break room. He didn't want to look in her eyes to see the heartbreak that he knew would be there.

"I'm not talking about exposing us – I'm talking of them. We would be – we are – the victims." She emphasised, and Castle couldn't disagree. They were the victims, Kate more than any of the others in the team.

"Kate just what is it you want to do?" Castle asked frightened of the answer.

"We set a lure. We send a message saying that we are about to go public with the information that we have, Bracken knows about the files, he knows that we know everything about him, what he did, what they all did. We say we've had enough of the murder and the persecution. That we would give him one chance to set this right for himself, to hand himself in to us in a set location. I confront him." Kate explained, the plan forming for coherently as she talked it through with him.

"Kate, you know that won't happen. You know he would kill you before you did anything." He argued.

"Exactly. We'll let him kill me. Or, at least, think that he has," a look of utter shock and terror visible went over Castle's face, the thought of losing the woman he loves was not an acceptable idea, ever, "No, listen – I'll only pretend to be dead –"

"No. Kate the answer is no. We are not doing this. I am not even going to go through that again. There is no way that is acceptable. You know what these people are like. There is no pretending." He stood up quite abruptly, "You know they would check, to ensure they would have done the job properly."

"We only need a river, a pier, something with a strong current like the Hudson. Prepare it all in advance, stage absolutely everything. Then, call them out. They shoot me, I go in the river, the guys arrest the assassin and get Bracken – and you get me from the river. You find me and get me safe and we'll all be safe again." Castle thought Kate was starting to sound delusional, there was no way a plan like that would work – and what about the consequences – there would be no guarantee that they would even be able to pull it off.

"Kate – I said no. I won't go through that again." Castle responded – he started pacing. It was a crazy idea, a stupid one. Stupid enough to work? "Let's go home Kate. There's nothing else here for us tonight. And there is no way you are going to your own home tonight. It's with me, and nothing you can say will stop that."

"I could arrest you for kidnap – that would stop you," Kate responded a bit of her old self in the jibe.

"Then arrest me once we've sorted this all out." Castle replied somewhat acerbically.

* * *

TBC... Next chapter soon!


End file.
